In this book, Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté argue that children's increasing attachment to peers rather than parents is a significant issue that undermines family cohesion, interferes with healthy development, and fosters a hostile and sexualized youth culture. The authors provide practical advice on how to 'reattach' to children, emphasizing the need for parents to be the primary source of enrichment, security, and warmth. They suggest strategies such as 'collecting' children through spontaneous and desirable interactions, maintaining family-oriented activities, and ensuring unconditional acceptance to prevent peer orientation and its negative consequences.
Abigail Shrier's "Bad Therapy" delves into the increasing trend of pathologizing normal childhood behaviors. The book examines how the therapeutic landscape has shifted, leading to the overdiagnosis and treatment of children for conditions that may simply be part of typical development. Shrier critiques certain therapeutic approaches and their potential negative consequences, sparking debate about the appropriate use of therapy for children. The book challenges readers to reconsider the boundaries between normal childhood experiences and diagnosable conditions, prompting a critical examination of current therapeutic practices. It encourages a more nuanced understanding of child development and the potential pitfalls of overmedicalization.
In this book, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma reshapes both the body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores various treatments, including neurofeedback, meditation, sports, drama, and yoga, which activate the brain’s natural neuroplasticity to aid in recovery. The book emphasizes the power of relationships in both causing and healing trauma and offers hope through descriptions of novel approaches to treatment. It is based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists in the field[1][2][5].
In this book, Abigail Shrier delves into the phenomenon of rapid-onset gender dysphoria among adolescent girls. She discusses how this condition, once rare and typically found in males, has suddenly become more prevalent among female teenagers. Shrier attributes this rise to social contagion, influenced by internet communities, school assemblies, and 'gender-affirming' educators and therapists. The book critiques medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, highlighting the risks and long-term consequences. Shrier also interviews girls, their parents, counselors, doctors, and 'detransitioners' to provide a comprehensive view of the issue and offers advice for parents on how to protect their daughters from this trend.
In this book, child psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel and early childhood expert Mary Hartzell delve into how our childhood experiences influence our parenting. Drawing on new findings in neurobiology and attachment research, they explain how interpersonal relationships impact brain development and offer a step-by-step approach for parents to understand their own life stories. This understanding helps parents raise compassionate and resilient children. The book is based on a series of parents' workshops and includes exercises for self-reflection and journaling, as well as sections on neuroscience research to support the recommendations.
This book offers 12 revolutionary strategies to help parents nurture their child's developing mind. It introduces the concepts of the 'upstairs brain' (higher-order cognitive functions) and the 'downstairs brain' (more primal emotional responses), emphasizing the importance of integrating these two brain regions for self-regulation and wise decision-making. The authors provide age-appropriate strategies to deal with day-to-day struggles, help children integrate their memories, and build positive, nurturing relationships. The book also highlights the value of viewing mistakes as opportunities for growth and teaching important skills through everyday parenting challenges[2][4][5].
This book provides practical ways to respond to the challenges of toddlerhood while nurturing a respectful relationship with your child. It covers common toddler concerns such as setting clear boundaries without yelling, understanding behaviors like biting, hitting, and tantrums, and advice for parenting strong-willed children. Lansbury’s approach to discipline is seen as an act of compassion and love, helping parents to be gentle leaders and stay calm in challenging situations.
American kids are the freest, most privileged kids in all of history. They are also the saddest, most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record. Nearly a third of teen girls say they have seriously considered suicide. For boys, that number is an alarming 14 percent.
What’s even stranger is that all of these worsening mental health outcomes for kids have coincided with a generation of parents hyper-fixated on the mental health and well-being of their children.
Take, for example, the biggest parenting trend today: “gentle parenting.” Parents today are told to understand their kids’ feelings instead of punishing them when they act out. This emphasis on the importance of feelings is not just a parenting trend—it’s become an educational tool as well. “Social-emotional learning” has become a pillar in public schools across America, from kindergarten to high school. And maybe most significantly, therapy for children has been normalized. In fact, there are more kids in therapy today than ever before.
On the surface, all of these parenting and educational developments seem positive. We are told that parents and educators today are more understanding, more accepting, more empathetic, and more compassionate than ever before—which, in turn, makes wonderful children.
But is that really the case? Are all of these changes—the cultural rethink, the advent of therapy culture, of gentle parenting, of teaching kids about social-emotional learning—actually making our kids better?
Best-selling author Abigail Shrier says no.
In her new book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up, Shrier argues that these changes are directly contributing to kids’ mental health decline. In other words: all of this shiny new stuff is actually making our kids worse.
Today: What’s gone wrong with American youth? What really happens to kids who get therapy but don’t actually need it? In our attempt to keep kids safe, are we failing the next generation of adults? And, if yes, how do we reverse it before it’s too late?
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Honestly with Bari Weiss 
